After a tumultuous opening day that saw a delegate insurrection on the convention floor, chants for Democrat Hilary Clinton to be jailed, and speakers accusing President Obama of being a Muslim, the Republican National Convention resumes Tuesday for a “Make America Work Again”-themed day.
Bringing jobs back to the United States has been a central theme of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and he has brought together an eclectic mix of speakers to address the topic. Among the daytime speakers are Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), golf pro Natalie Gulbis, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kerry Woolard, the general manager of Trump Winery. Trump’s 22-year-old daughter ,Tiffany, described on the convention’s site as a “fashion model, singer, and influential presence on social media,” is also slated to address the crowd in Cleveland.
Surprisingly, few of the four headliners scheduled for primetime speaking slots have backgrounds in business. Learn more about them below.
Donald Trump, Jr.
The eldest son of Donald and Ivana Trump, Trump Jr. serves as the Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, along with his siblings Eric and Ivanka. Trump Jr. followed closely in his father’s footsteps, attending the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before taking over new property acquisitions and the property portfolio at the Trump Organization. He has also lent a hand with the family’s reality TV ventures, serving as an advisor on “The Apprentice” and as a judge for the Miss Universe Pageant, whose parent company Donald Trump owned until last year. Trump Jr. has been a fixture on the campaign trail, appearing at rallies and speaking to reporters on his father’s behalf.
His comments have not always helped the campaign, however. In February he lamented that he couldn’t “even have an opinion anymore” as the son of a billionaire, and in March he was criticized for granting an interview to a white nationalist radio host. Trump Jr. later said he would not have done the interview if he’d known of the host’s beliefs.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Capito is a relatively moderate lawmaker with years of experience in West Virginia politics, making her an unusual choice for a GOP convention that has prioritized feeding red meat to the party base.
She served as a representative for the Mountain State from 2001-2014, winning election as the junior senator in 2014. Capito has sponsored over 113 pieces of legislation in Congress, many related to improving Americans’ access to healthcare, and supports legislation fighting campus sexual assault, promoting equal pay and securing abortion rights. Capito has mostly avoided commenting on the 2016 campaign and has yet to throw her weight behind Trump. She said she would support the party’s nominee and urged Trump to stop using “brutal language.”
Ben Carson
The retired neurosurgeon and failed 2016 presidential candidate has emerged as a prominent surrogate for Trump’s campaign. Raised in poverty by a single mother in Detroit, Carson later attended Yale University and became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. He parlayed this rags-to-riches tale into a memoir, “Gifted Hands,” and a lucrative career on the conservative Christian speaking circuit. Carson’s eccentric manner and the revelation that key details in his personal history were fabricated ended up sinking his 2016 bid, but he remained in the national spotlight after backing Trump’s run in March.
In the endorsement announcement, Carson said he wished he could have supported a different candidate, and he’s maintained a reputation as an unpredictable surrogate ever since. Now an official advisor to the campaign, Carson has called Trump’s Twitter use a “problem,” said Trump questioned his faith during the primary campaign because Trump was “desperate,” and said that even if Trump proves to be a bad president “we’re only looking at four years.”
Kimberlin Brown
A night after “General Hospital” star Antonio Sabàto Jr. took the convention stage, another soap opera star is scheduled to speak. Brown was best known for her roles in ‘90s dramas “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.” She has since made occasional appearances on daytime TV, and launched K. Brown Dramatic Designs, an interior design company featured on the Design Network. According to the convention website, she now runs a small avocado farm in California with her husband. It’s unclear if she has any particular ties to the Trumps.
Brown’s social media accounts reveal little about her ties to Republican politics, either, except for photos taken with GOP leaders at this year’s convention.
If “Make America Work Again” had been the first night’s theme, maybe more time would have been spent on Melania’s speech.
Yes, but has she posed naked on a rug?
Someone will have to regale us from the podium about how we’re losing all our jobs overseas and domestic factories are closing due to Benghazi, the Iranian nuclear deal and Obama’s denial of being a Muslim.
Second night is pretty much guaranteed to be another version of sh*tshow number one.
SHE’S gonna tell America how Rump is gonna create jobs. Because she is a “influential presence on social media,” Uh huh. And ol’ sleepy eyes Carson? Guaranteed crazy coming our way.
EDIT TO ADD: Read that Melanoma came to this country on an H-1B visa. She apparently qualified under a provision that allows foreign models entry into the country. Wonder how Rump’s acolytes feel about that or would they even care?
The roster screams of B and C listers happy for any moment on stage they can get.